2019 Chess Calendar

Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian will aim to defend their Tata Steel and Gibraltar Masters titles as 2019 gets off to a traditional start. This year there's no Olympiad or World Championship match, but the World Cup awaits in September, as well as other biennial events such as the World and European Team Championships. The $1.5 million Grand Chess Tour is expanding into Asia and Africa, while Altibox Norway Chess will be one to watch as it trials Armageddon games after classical draws. There's a new women's supertournament as well as a Candidates Tournament to decide Ju Wenjun's next World Championship opponent.

This 2019 Chess Calendar is of course a work in progress, since we don't yet have the dates or details for many events, including those of the Grand Chess Tour. Please let us know in the comments if we've left out any major events which have already been announced.

Current and upcoming tournaments:

May 2019

May 16 - 30 | FIDE Grand Prix Leg 1 | Moscow, Russia

The first leg of the new FIDE Grand Prix series. Each leg is a 16-player knockout with a €130,000 prize fund, with an additional €280,000 on offer based on the overall standings after all four events. The main goal is to win one of two qualifying places for the 2020 Candidates Tournament.

Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand and Ding Liren are the confirmed players for a 2-day rapid tournament taking place in a very unusual venue - the Lindores Abbey Distillery in Scotland. The organisers note that monks played chess in the venue 500 years ago, and are releasing a special whisky to mark the event.

May 30 - June 17 | FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament | Kazan, Russia

There's a revolution in women's chess, as an 8-player Candidates Tournament will now determine the next challenger for a match against Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun. The players are Anna and Mariya Muzychuk, Ekaterina Lagno, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Tan Zhongyi, Nana Dzagnidze, Valentina Gunina and Aleksandra Goryachkina, who qualified as the first reserve after Hou Yifan, currently studying at Oxford University, declined her invitation.

Who will play a match against Ju Wenjun for the Women's World Championship title? | photo: ugra2018.fide.com

June 2019

June 3 - 14 | Altibox Norway Chess | Stavanger, Norway

This year's Altibox Norway Chess will be the first elite classical round-robin to trial a radical approach to the "problem" of draws in chess. A winner of a classical game gets 2 points, but if the game is drawn the players then immediately switch to Armageddon, with the winner getting 1.5 points and the loser 0.5 points. Magnus Carlsen is among the players confirmed to be taking part.

The players can still make quick draws in 2019, but then they'll have to play even quicker Armageddon! | photo: Lennart Ootes, Altibox Norway Chess

This is the resurrection of a tournament once won by the likes of Bobby Fischer and Jan Timman. The Masters is a 10-player round-robin featuring Dominguez, Svidler, Dubov, Rodshtein, McShane, Nabaty, Gelfand, Eljanov, Postny and Smirin, while there will also be an open, with Anton Korobov currently the top seed. The games will be played in the Netanya Stadium, with a prize fund of $100,000 and $25,000 for first place in the Masters. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich appears to be one of the sponsors.

July 2019

July 10 - 21 | US Junior Championship | Saint Louis, USA

July 11 - 25 | FIDE Grand Prix Leg 2 | Jurmala/Riga, Latvia

The second leg of the new FIDE Grand Prix series. Each leg is a 16-player knockout with a €130,000 prize fund, with an additional €280,000 on offer based on the overall standings after all four events. The main goal is to win one of two qualifying places for the 2020 Candidates Tournament.

July 13 - 21 | Sparkassen Chess-Meeting | Dortmund, Germany

Ian Nepomniachtchi is the defending champion for the 47th edition of the traditional chess tournament in Dortmund. 10-time winner Vladimir Kramnik is missing after his retirement, with the field completed by Radjabov, Dominguez, Rapport, Wojtaszek, Nisipeanu, Fridman and Kaido Kulaots, who qualified by winning the Aeroflot Open.

July 20 - 31 | Biel International Chess Festival | Biel, Switzerland

The 52nd edition of the tournament in Biel will struggle to match the line-up in 2018, when Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won ahead of Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. As always we can expect a strong open tournament to accompany the main event.

Carlsen's loss to Mamedyarov in Biel was one of only two classical defeats he suffered in the whole of 2018! The other was to Wesley So in Norway Chess | photo: Lennart Ootes, Biel Chess 2018

July 26 - August 4 | British Chess Championship | Torquay, England

July 27 - August 1 | Paris Rapid & Blitz | Paris, France

The third leg of the new-look 12-player Grand Chess Tour is a 5-day rapid and blitz tournament. The tour regulars play in three of the five rapid and blitz events and both classical tournaments. The wild cards for this event are Alexander Grischuk, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Daniil Dubov.

August 17 - 25 | French Chess Championship | Chartres, France

The 2018 edition of the French Championships gave us two surprise winners: Tigram Gharamian and Pauline Guichard.

August 20 - September 2 | World Cadet Championship | Weifang, China

The annual World Youth Championships for the Under 8, U10 and U12 age categories.

September 2019

September 9 - October 2 | FIDE World Cup | Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

The biennial World Cup is probably the most anticipated chess event of 2019, with 128 players set to compete for the title and places in the 2020 Candidates Tournament. Will World Champion Magnus Carlsen take part again after getting knocked out by Bu Xiangzhi in 2017?

The World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk in 2019 is a prelude to the Olympiad being held in the same Siberian city in 2020 | photo: ugra2018.fide.com

October 2019

October 1-13 | World Youth Championship | Nagpur, India

The annual World Youth Championship for the Under 14, U16 and U18 age categories.

October 14 - 26 | World Junior Championship | New Delhi, India

The most prestigious prize in junior chess, with players 20 and under competing in 11-round open and women's tournaments to determine the 2019 World Junior Champions.

October 23 - November 3 | European Team Championship | Batumi, Georgia

A 9-round biennial team event open to all the European Chess Federations. The defending champions are Azerbaijan, in the open category, and Russia, among the women.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov led Azerbaijan to gold in 2017 on Crete | photo: Niki Riga, official website

November 2019

November 1 - 10 | Fischer Random 2019 | Bærum, Norway

After a match between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura was held in 2018 the plan this year is to expand and hold a World Championship style event open to all online before a knockout tournament takes place in Norway. The World Champion will be seeded through to the semi-final stage.

November 4 - 18 | FIDE Grand Prix Leg 3 | Hamburg, Germany

The third leg of the new FIDE Grand Prix series. Each leg is a 16-player knockout with a €130,000 prize fund, with an additional €280,000 on offer based on the overall standings after all four events. The main goal is to win one of two qualifying places for the 2020 Candidates Tournament.

November 4 - 11 | Superbet Rapid & Blitz | Bucharest, Romania

The sixth leg of the new-look 12-player Grand Chess Tour is a 5-day rapid and blitz tournament. The tour regulars play in three of the five rapid and blitz events and both classical tournaments.

November 9 - 17 | European Chess Club Cup | Budva, Montenegro

The annual open and women's European Club Cups are open to qualifying club teams from across Europe. In 2018 Peter Svidler let St. Petersburg-based Mednyi Vsadnik to victory despite losing his first 4 games.

November 11 - 24 | World Senior Championship | Oradea, Romania

The World Individual Senior Chess Championship is help in open and women's categories for players aged 50+ and 65+.

November 20 - 27 | Tata Steel India Rapid & Blitz | Kolkata, India

The seventh leg of the new-look 12-player Grand Chess Tour is a 5-day rapid and blitz tournament. The tour regulars play in three of the five rapid and blitz events and both classical tournaments.

December 2019

December 1 - 9 | London Chess Classic | London, UK

The London Chess Classic will host the finals of the Grand Chess Tour. The prize fund for the final four players in the tour has been raised to $350,000, with $150,000 for 1st place and $100,000 for 2nd. We can also expect major accompanying events such as the British Knockout Championship.

December 10 - 24 | FIDE Grand Prix Leg 4 | Tel-Aviv, Israel

The fourth leg of the new FIDE Grand Prix series. Each leg is a 16-player knockout with a €130,000 prize fund, with an additional €280,000 on offer based on the overall standings after all four events. The main goal is to win one of two qualifying places for the 2020 Candidates Tournament.

December 13 - 22 | Sunway Chess Open | Sitges, Spain

January 2019

January 12 – 27 | Tata Steel Chess | Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands

Magnus Carlsen, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Ding Liren, Anish Giri, Vladimir Kramnik and Vishy Anand head the field for the 13-round Tata Steel Masters, with the debut of Sam Shankland in a major traditional supertournament a particular highlight. The 81st edition of the tournament also features Praggnanandhaa, Vincent Keymer and more of the world's top juniors playing in the Challengers.

January 23 – February 1 | Gibraltar Masters | Gibraltar

Levon Aronian will attempt to defend his title in this year's Gibraltar Masters, but he'll face tough opposition from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Wesley So, Yu Yangyi and Hikaru Nakamura. The 10-round open also features some of the world's best women, starting with reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun.

February 20 - 24 | Champions Showdown: The Kings | Saint Louis, USA

The Champions Showdown is an opportunity for five US chess players (Leinier Dominguez recently switched federation) to play individual matches against selected opponents. They play 12 rapid games and 24 blitz games over five days for a $60,000 prize fund in each match. The matches are:

February 22 - 24 | Bunratty Chess Festival | Bunratty, Ireland

February 19 - 28 | Aeroflot Open | Moscow, Russia

The 17th edition of one of the world's most formidable open tournaments is again taking place in the Cosmos Hotel in Moscow. The main event is intended for players rated 2550 and over, meaning there are no easy games. The winner qualifies for the Dortmund supertournament in July.

March 2019

March 1 - 3 | Chess Bundesliga Central Rounds | Berlin, Germany

The German Chess League (Schachbundesliga) is a 16-team all-play-all event that features some of the world's best players, including Fabiano Caruana and Vishy Anand. Most weekends teams are split in venues across Germany, but for three rounds a year they all come together in one venue. This year that will again be Berlin, for Rounds 9-11, while the Women's Bundesliga will have its season finale. On Saturday 2nd there's also the 2nd edition of the Emanuel Lasker Blitz Tournament.

March 2 - 10 | Spring Chess Classic | Saint Louis, USA

The Saint Louis Chess Club continues its tradition of organising strong round-robin tournaments for players currently at a level slightly below the world elite, and this edition is topped by the one and only Vassily Ivanchuk, who turns 50 a week after the event.

March 5 - 14 | World Team Championship | Astana, Kazakhstan

The World Team Championship is a biennial team tournament whose all-play-all format among 10 teams means that it can be tougher to win than the Olympiad. The teams eligible to play are in the open section are China, Azerbaijan, Iran, USA, Egypt, Russia, Poland, England, Kazakhstan and India. And in the women's section: Russia, China, USA, Egypt, Ukraine, Georgia, Hungary, Armenia, Kazakhstan and India.

A new event on the chess calendar organised by the Novoborsky Chess Club. 2700 players (and club members) Harikrishna, David Navara and Radek Wojtaszek are already confirmed for the 10-player Masters Tournament, while there will also be a 10-player Challengers event, with the winner qualifying for the Masters in 2020.

March 7 - 13 | 9th HDBank International | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

March 18 - 29 | European Individual Championship | Skopje, FYROM

The European Championship is a prestigious event in its own right, but nowadays it mainly functions as a qualifier for the World Cup. 22 places are up for grabs in the knockout tournament later in the year.

March 20 - April 1 | US Chess Championship | Saint Louis, USA

For years now the US Chess Championship and US Women's Chess Championship have been the strongest, most lucrative and most professionally broadcast national chess championships. Leinier Dominguez is making his debut alongside Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Hikaru Nakamura and defending champion Sam Shankland now that his switch from the Cuban to the US Chess Federation is complete.

March 31 - April 8 | Shamkir Chess | Shamkir, Azerbaijan

The 6th edition of the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir will again this year feature both 3-time winner Magnus Carlsen and 2-time winner Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. They're joined by Ding Liren, Anish Giri, Viswanathan Anand, Alexander Grischuk, Teimour Radjabov, Sergey Karjakin, Veselin Topalov and David Navara in a 9-round classical round-robin.

April 2019

April 1 - 9 | Dubai Open | Dubai, UAE

The 21st Dubai Open is a 9-round open with a $13,000 top prize, with many of the players, such as top seeds Wang Hao, Le Quang Liem and Maxim Matlakov, making the very short trip straight from the Sharjah Masters.

April 6 - 14 | Bangkok Chess Club Open | Bangkok, Thailand

The 19th edition of the Bangkok Chess Club Open is taking place in Bangkok itself this year, and is again likely to see our very own Jan Gustafsson play his annual tournament in the company of some other top players.

April 18 - 22 | GRENKE Chess Open | Karlsruhe, Germany

The GRENKE Chess Open is a huge 9-round Swiss event taking place in the Congress Centre in Karlsruhe over the Easter weekend. The top seed so far this year is Nikita Vitiugov, with the winner taking home 20,000 euros and a place in the 2020 GRENKE Chess Classic.

April 20 - 29 | GRENKE Chess Classic | Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Germany

The GRENKE Chess Classic is a 10-player all-play-all supertournament featuring World Champion Magnus Carlsen and fellow stars Fabiano Caruana, Vishy Anand, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Levon Aronian and Arkadij Naiditsch. It's set to be a baptism of fire for 14-year-old Vincent Keymer, who qualified by winning the GRENKE Chess Open in 2018. The first 5 rounds will be played in Karlsruhe, before the final 4 rounds are played in Baden-Baden. chess24 will again be the official broadcaster of the event, with a commentary team of Jan Gustafsson and Peter Leko.

May 3 - 13 | Capablanca Memorial | Havana, Cuba

This will be the 54th edition of the traditional tournament held in memory of the legendary Cuban World Chess Champion Jose Raul Capablanca. Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexey Dreev and Adhiban are among the 6-player field for the 10-round event.

May 7 - 12 | Cote d’Ivoire Rapid & Blitz | Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire

The first leg of the new-look 12-player Grand Chess Tour is a 5-day rapid and blitz tournament taking place in Cote d'Ivoire, Africa. The tour regulars play in three of the five rapid and blitz events and both classical tournaments. The wild cards for this event are Wei Yi, Veselin Topalov and Bassem Amin.

May 11 - 19 | Polish Championships | Warsaw, Poland

Once again the Polish Open and Women's Championships are taking place in an impressive venue - the trading room of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Will Radek Wojtaszek get revenge for Jan-Krzysztof Duda taking his title and Polish no. 1 spot last year?

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